A different way of telling a story

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

RELEASED IN 1980 and DIRECTED BY Harry Falk & Virgil W. Vogel, "Beulah Land" focuses on the titular Georgia plantation in Antebellum South, starting in 1827 and proceeding well past the Civil War.MAIN CAST: Lesley Ann Warren stars as the emerging matriarch, Sarah, who basically takes over the plantation after marrying the likable, but feeble Leon (Paul Rudd). Meredith Baxter is on hand as Sarah's drama mama sister while Michael Sarrazin surfaces as Sarah's 'knight in shining armor' from the North. Eddie Albert & Hope Lange play the elders of Beulah Land. Dorian Harewood, Franklyn Seales, Grand L. Bush & Jean Foster have important black roles. Paul Shenar plays a literal slave-driver with Jenny Agutter as his babe of dubious morality. Don Johnson appears in the first act as a rash young buck from a neighboring plantation and Madeline Stowe his maybe (or maybe not) wife. Ilene Graff, Laurie Prange, Jonathan Frakes & Patrick Harrison all have secondary key roles.COMMENTARY: Novelist Lonnie Coleman obviously used Margaret Mitchell's "Gone with the Wind" for inspiration for her first two Beulah Land books (1973 and 1977) from which this three-part miniseries was based. While it lacks the production values of the iconic "Gone with the Wind" (1939), "Beulah Land" is a generally more accurate depiction of the Plantation Era in the Deep South. For one thing, it was actually shot in the Deep South, at a plantation in Natchez, Mississippi, whereas the outside sequences in "Gone with the Wind" were all obviously shot in friggin' California (not counting establishing shots).The beginning is weak with all the principles as children (provoking me to tune out the first time I tried to watch it), but after the first half hour you'll find yourself embroiled in the melodrama of plantation life. You can tell John Jakes' "North and South" trilogy took a lot from "Beulah Land," but the latter came first. There are a few shocking moments and thrilling sequences, particularly when the Yankees invade, but this is a melodrama of the Plantation Era with the expected virtues, sins and gray areas thereof. Needless to say, "Beulah Land" is a great companion piece to "The Blue and the Gray" (1980) and "North and South" (1985/1986/1994).The three parts run 281 minutes (19 minutes shy of 5 hours). The screenplay was written by Jacques Meunier from Coleman's books.IMPORTANT NOTE ON THE DVDS: PART II is featured on Disc 1 immediately following PART I. You have to wait for the ending credits of PART I and then it automatically goes into PART II without selecting anything. The disc makers should have indicated this on the Main Menu, but they didn't, which can confuse some viewers and make them think that the 2-Disc set doesn't include PART II.GRADE: B

I have read all 3 volumes of the series by Lonnie Coleman numerous times. In fact I pretty much know the story word for word. I can assure you this series does not follow the books at all. Many major characters in the books have been reduced to minor parts or omitted completely. Many characters never mentioned in any of the books are added, for example who is the man named they call Rosoe Corlay? No place in any of the books. What happened to Roscoe Elk and Daniel Todd? Pretty major players in the books! So if you are looking at this series because you enjoyed the books you will be sadly disappointed. It is still entertaining and will be more enjoyable if you have never read the books.

I have all three volumes of Beulah Land and have read them numerous times. The overseer was Roscoe Elk, not Roscoe Corlay. In the book he married Clovis, not a hooker. In the book Roscoe kills Clovis when he finds out that Leon and her had become "pals". And Casey Troy was a photographer, not in the military. Where is Stella, the one who tends to Felix. Where is the Yankee deserter who marries Rachels daughter, Jane. Come to think of it, where is Jane?? Aunt Nell played a prominent part in the book, in this movie she only had bit parts. I was very disappointed in this movie. Had they have followed the book, I would of loved it. If you have read the book don't waste your time on this movie.

These novels were not cheap paperbacks when they first came out. I read them years ago, and to call them Supermarket novels is to do them an injustice. But also, that same person who posted that said the movie starred Lesley Ann Downe-- he didn't even get Lesley Ann Warren's name right.I loved this movie. I bought it from Amazon.com about a month ago. I had planned to watch it in three or four sittings, since it ran over 4 hours, but I became so engrossed that I watched it in two sessions. It is a two disc movie. There were a lot of similarities to Gone With The Wind in the movie, but not so many in the books. I've been to Natchez, and I was happy to see a shot of "The Delta Queen." I've ridden on the Delta Queen. It used to dock at Louisville.